Amir Khan: I'll beat Luis Collazo in real style... I'm improved and at now at my best

Amir Khan is confident he will show the world how much he has improved in his year out of the ring when he goes toe-to-toe with tricky southpaw Luis Collazo in Las Vegas on May 3.

The Bolton fighter had been hoping to take on Floyd Mayweather but will instead fight on his undercard after the American decided to fight Argentinian bruiser Marcos Maidana.

After several setbacks which saw the 27-year-old former unified light-welterweight world champion endure a frustrating 12 months and pass up the opportunity to take on Devon Alexander for the IBF welterweight title in December, Khan believes he will come back stronger.

VIDEO Scroll down for Khan Sportsmail exclusive on Collazo and Mayweather

The last time he entered the ring was last April in Sheffield when he defeated Julio Diaz.

'It was a difficult time,' said Khan. 'But the fact is I moved on fairly quick when I knew the Mayweather shot wasn't happening.

'It was just about refocusing my mind on the next opponent and luckily we were able to announce Luis Collazo straight away which allowed me the chance to get back in the ring as soon as possible.

'I wanted a tough challenge at welterweight and not just to go in there against some average guy. Collazo is a legitimate welterweight who is very confident after his win against Victor Ortiz but I know I have the tools to beat him.'

Punching power: The Bolton-born star insists he is ready for the step up to welterweight to fight Collazo

Khan has spent time working with highly-rated American trainer Virgil Hunter over the last year in San Francisco and thinks the time spent on all aspects of his fighting will give him the edge to beat Collazo.

'You're going to see an improved Amir Khan, the best Amir Khan, there's no doubt in my mind about that,' he said.

'Over the last 12 months I've been in camps with Virgil and we've been working on certain aspects of my game that I never really got the chance to work on because I just didn't get the time as I was fighting so often.

Tough nut to crack: Luis Collazo (left) celebrates his knock out of Victor Ortiz in January

'Through the last few months I've been focusing on improving myself and adding certain things to my game. Because I didn't have an opponent lined up and I wasn't fighting I had the time to look at myself and work on things I wanted to work on.

'On May 3rd I'm going to put that all into practice on the biggest stage and not only beat Collazo but look to beat him in real style.'

Collazo, meanwhile, knows the fight against Khan could make or break his career.

The 33-year-old said: 'This fight is my whole career right in front of me. I believe if I beat Amir Khan I have a bigger future in boxing and if I don't, I have to start from the bottom again.

'I am not looking beyond Amir Khan. He is my main focus. From here whatever happens happens, but Amir Khan is all I'm thinking about right now.

'A win over Khan does put me in the Mayweather sweepstakes, but my sights are set on Khan.'